The Honeybus - Honeybus At Their Best [I Can't Let Maggie Go]

The Honeybus - Honeybus At Their Best (1967-70) [I Can't Let Maggie Go]
CD (1997) To Mp3 256 mbit/s
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Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London.
Material was written mainly by the band's main resident composers, Dello and Cane, although Hare and Kircher also contributed songs. The group's supporters and critics, amongst them Kenny Everett, compared the band's sound to that of the Rubber Soul era of Beatles. Honeybus, however, never achieved the commercial success of many other artists of their time, only once in their history connecting with the public for a major hit with 1968's "I Can't Let Maggie Go", which was so popular that it earned the band a cover photo on the popular music magazine, "Disc and Music Echo", for which they posed atop a red London bus.

"I Can't Let Maggie Go" reached Number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, staying in the Top 40 for over two months, but any chance of future success was shattered when Dello resigned during the single's chart run. He had been willing to play live on radio and television appearances or a special concert showcase, but abhorred the live scene and the idea of touring America, which he had done earlier in the 1960s. Deprived of their key songwriter and performer, the band drafted in Jim Kelly to replace Dello on guitar and vocals, whilst Cane, whose talents and instincts were a close match for Dello's, took over most of the songwriting and a large share of the lead vocals.

This lineup scored a minor success with "She Sold Blackpool Rock" and a follow-up single to "Maggie", "Girl Of Independent Means", but the group never really recovered. Kircher was next to leave the band, in the summer of 1969, and went on tour with Engelbert Humperdinck. He was replaced by drummer Lloyd Courtney for the remainder of the sessions for their debut album, but Honeybus eventually disbanded late in 1969. Their music is arguably best evaluated by listening to the posthumous 1970 album Story, which, without an active band to promote it, sank without a trace.

Dello, Hare and Kelly all went on to record critically-acclaimed solo material in the early 1970s, which failed to achieve any significant commercial success, however the principal players Dello, Hare, Kelly and Kircher all worked extensively on each other's solo material, causing, in effect, a Honeybus reunion in all but name. The Dello line-up of the band reunited in 1971 to record a new body of songs for the Bell Records label and a complete LP, "Recital", for British Warner Bros. Records. A change in management at Warner Brothers meant that Recital was never issued commercially, although some promotional copies were issued to music industry insiders and are now highly collectable. The hit song "I Can't Let Maggie Go" enjoyed an unexpected reprise in popularity in the 1970s when it was used as the soundtrack for a television advertisement for "Nimble" slimmer's bread.

Since their heyday, Honeybus have found themselves pigeonholed as one-hit wonders. Ex-member Pete Dello stated in an interview for Dutch TV's "Single Luck" (NPS for Nederland 2, 2003) that he believes this tag does not fairly represent the rich legacy of material left behind by the band, and that surely having one hit was better than none at all. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'Honeybus at their best' is 25-song compilation containing The Honeybus Story as well as all of the singles, including 'I Can't Let Maggie Go,' and lots of rare takes. Strangely enough, 'Maggie' doesn't hold up as that good a song next to some of the rest, and many of Ray Cane's numbers actually come off as more memorable than many of Dello's songs. The group's 1969 recordings, featuring Kelly's guitar in lieu of an excess of overdubbed instruments, are generally the strongest body of work here. Hare's 'Would You Believe,' a country-style number (making him the group's 'Ringo Starr') also comes off as a refreshing change of pace. Some of the songs suffer from a degree of sameness, but most of the music contains enough surprises to make it interesting. By Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Tracklist:
01. Story
02. Black Mourning Band)
03. Scarlet Laday
04. Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water
05. He Was Columbus
05. Ceilings No. 1
07. Under The Silent Tree)
08. She's Out There
09. She Said Yes
10. I Remember Caroline
11. How Long
12. Ceilings No. 2
13. Delighted To See You
14. The Breaking Up Scene
15. (Do I Figure) In Your Life
16. Throw My Love Away
17. Girl Of Independent Means
18. The Right To Choose
19. Julie In My Heart
20. I Can't Let Maggie Go
21. She Sold Blackpool Rock
22. She Sold Blackpool Rock [French Version]
23. Would You Believe
24. Tender Are The Ashes
25. How Long [Single Version]

The best known line-up consisted of:
Pete Dello (born Peter Blumsom, 1942, Oxford, Oxfordshire) — (vocals, keyboards, guitar)
Ray Cane (born Raymond Byart, 1945, Hackney, East London) — (vocals, bass, keyboards)
Colin Hare (born Colin Nicholas Nicol, 4 June 1946, Combe, near Bath, Somerset) — (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Pete Kircher (born Peter Kircher, 21 January 1945, Folkestone, Kent) — (drums, vocals)
Jim Kelly (born James Kelly, 19 December 1946, Dundee, Scotland - died 26 December 1995, Dundee, Scotland) — (lead guitar, vocals)